No More Hope
by FullmetalWizard1995
Summary: For Origami Stars' Fears contest. As one by one the smashers are eliminated, a cold fear descends upon the mansion. No one knows who, what, or why, but one thing is certain: the only ones safe are those who are already dead. Character deaths.


**This is my first ever attempt at horror, so if it goes over well then I might try it again in the future. If it comes out sucking, well, I tried, okay? Give me credit for that at least. **

**Disclaimer: SSB is owned by Nintendo. Last I checked, I am not Nintendo. Therefore, I own nothing.**

**WARNING: there is a lot of death. Not a lot of blood (unless you imagine it that way) but the deaths themselves are pretty horrible (I think so anyway). Just be aware of that. **

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"_The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there's no risk of accident for someone who's dead." – Albert Einstein _

Link ran blindly down the deserted halls of the Smash Mansion. The air was thick and hot, and he could hear his blood pounding in his ears. He felt like something was following him, always just a breath behind but each time he looked around nothing was there. It was just like it was every other time, except for now he couldn't seem to shake it off.

The sight of Zelda hanging in her doorway, a chair knocked over under her, had made it clear that he was next; the invisible enemy would not stop until every smasher lay dead at its feet.

Suddenly, Link slipped and hit the ground hard. As he scrambled to get up he put his hand in something wet, and followed the trail back to Pit, slumped against the wall, white wings stained red with blood. A knife—Link didn't know whose it was—protruded from just below the angel's ribcage; his pale hand hung limply off the handle. Link's stomach rolled as he saw the empty blue eyes that not long ago has sparkled with life; worse yet was the terror that his own eyes would look like that. He contemplated lying there in the pool of blood and letting the thing take him, but pulled by a force stronger than his own will he continued to run, reaching the stairs that would take him up on top of the mansion.

His breath heavy in his chest, Link remembered the initial frigid terror that had took hold of everyone after Marth had been the first to discover Ike at the bottom of a stairwell with his neck broken. Whispers that he had been pushed ran from ear to ear, and the next day Samus was found crushed by a land rover. Immediately suspect were Fox, Falco, and Wolf, but before anyone could make a move the trio was discovered not far from Samus, hands clutching arrows impaled in their necks. From that point on, smashers kept turning up with increasing frequency dead by murder—or some other means—until, one week after it had all started, hardly anyone remained alive.

As Link opened the door and stepped out onto the roof, he collapsed with great, wracking sobs. A week earlier, he had thought that Ike's death had been nothing more than an accident; but as more and more of his friends turned up mangled or covered in blood, he had begun to think that maybe something or someone really was out to get them, and that this was the end of them all.

Link had toughed it out. With each death he had felt certain that he would be next, but he never was. Now, after the snuffing out of Zelda's life, it was confirmed: since he could not—would not—return to Hyrule without his princess, he would be the next to die. It was his turn now, he was the only one left.

Feeling bereft, he recalled the attempt at catching this invisible enemy. Snake, Ganondorf, Sonic, Red, Lucas, and Ness had gone out to search the grounds for the killer, while Nana, Popo, Peach, Luigi, and Mario had remained inside. The only one to survive from either party had been Red. Team Mario had been all but obliterated by a freak explosion that had reduced the cafeteria to rubble, while Red had recounted a blood-chilling tale of how he had watched from behind a tree as Snake had lost control and shot to death every other member of the team before himself. The boy was so shaken that he didn't speak again, and was found later that night with his skull smashed in; beside him and still gripping the hammer was Pikachu, with every strand of his yellow fur still standing on end and surrounded by a scorched black circle. They had all been the last to die in such a large amount; the remaining few were more spread out up until this point.

The sky outside was tinged with red, and black clouds hovered on the horizon; the air seemed to have thickened to the point where it was like moving through water. Keeping the damaged half of the mansion to his left, Link stepped out to the edge of the flat roof, looking down three stories to the dead grass. His breathing was normal but he could still hear and feel his pulse racing. He spread his arms wide; a breeze ruffled his hair.

"Zelda…"

And all of a sudden, he felt as though he couldn't go through with this: Zelda wouldn't have wanted him to die like this. Looking at the ground again, he swallowed hard; the earth seemed to tilt beneath his feet and his sweaty, bloodstained hands shook. He felt his insides turn to ice as fear gripped him again. He could almost hear Marth inside his head: "Come on Link, a fear of heights is irrational! If anything, it's falling you're afraid of." His friend's voice so clear in his mind brought back painful memories of when he had found Marth, dead arm reaching for a bloody Falchion lying near his severed head. Tears began to run in familiar tracks down his face.

And as if a light hand pressed between his shoulder blades, he pitched forward, feeling the acceleration and hearing the wind howling in his ears. Then nothing.


End file.
